THE WOES OF WIVES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 47, 20 March 1909, Page 3

THE WOES OF WIVES.

DO MEX UKSE MORE THAN WOUI'N liY MAUHIAOKy To I list en to the general conversation 011 Mhis .-.abject. i|. mo,uld appear i» sonic sl.rangcr from far a way that men '"" deprived of their beloved liberty ilircctU.v they enter the bond), of matrimony, and that the. hciv state thereof is neither more, nor Icsb'thiin a trap to catch llitt unwary, bai'trtl with u. vo'iiii" beautiful, or wealthy womim. " "'

Men, married anil single, joke ami more often talk in ~,hkM 0 „ t hc methods which, have been. „,- are about to be. vhiploycd do catch, tlicni: «,„! women. hav,e be,,,, j ikl ., u ,,i t() bunlm _ ajigle'is.. iishciK with nets, sircus-h fact, ewli-y term symbolic of a .pursuer ot prey.

Hut, granted that women endeavor to »mv t their spells ( u e nitice. men to. do their duty as husbands and lathers of '.the raw. what particular gain accrues to iUc women themselves*—and do they often change a, stale of liberty even i'f of toil, for «, ( haiipier ,and Jess arduous existent-':

THE CYCLE Ol" SORROWS. Women are not now the slaves ,>f their hus'lianids' wills: but, to the scru-pulous'-woman, t'hc vow's the takes when she, resigns herself Into .the hands of her husband, and 'tlie no less hiudin" sentftnen't of a dirty to lie pcrformi'if. eiefnhl her with it chain equally as &■ euro «s the bond of slavery.

A woman who litis Jit tie' children cannot Haunt .out of the house under domestic calamities, which affect her comfort as niii<-h as tliait of her lord and. master; she is ,ju.s't, as much annoyed, and distressed when tlie pipes arc, frozen; when she linds the cook's male relatives too frequently in the kitchen, and is obliged to issue' notice, to 'the.

"fourth cook that month," she deplores the discomfort, ibu't knows instinctively —although it is beyond -human 'power to prove it—that household misfortunes alwayfc revolve in .cycil.es, and that when the wheel is uplpertiioiit her turn will come to absorb the domcslfc treasure's.

Her thoughts may revert to, the. hiappy days when she occupied ti little. flat wit/li, Sylvia Manhater; hut she sticks nobly to her post when the door hangs and the partner of her joys and sorrows (?) strides .rapidly, anil tlien, more calmly, to hfe club, to, crack grim pleasantries concerning tlie comforts of married, 'life, and the consolations of the lonely Ibachelor.

•PAYING FOll jLUXUJUES. The 'wife has a club; she is in nowise debarred from any moderex enjoyment of her rights.; But how can she liud solace, within its walls with the painful fact that little Johnnie appears to be developing measles, or Elizabeth is threatened with a sore throat? She toiay lie assured in her own mind tha|t, nurse is a, most excellent woman and manager; .that her maiden aunt, who yearns toi take charge, would be

inscientious and call in the doctor on

[ the slightest pretext; lint she has been with the child all day, atid phe must not .take infection abroad; and —what is worse—she dare -nut risk Hhe busy tongue of ,Mrs. Grundy, as embodied 4>y, her over-anxious friends—over-anxious that she should sacrifice all to -reco/;uised duty. The anan may relieve his feelings at all timet; by words which mean nothing, but soothe, and, sot 'to apeak, let oil' steam; Imtu. woman, when she marries, is 'supposed to keep her temper —at any rate, before her huAand. A man aJccc>pits alll the credit of working hard to keep his 'wife; but he seldom states the fact that, in many instances, she keeps him, or 'that she lias been forced to give up the, means of a, livelihood when she married.

Marriage bins Ibeen described as the intune desire on the part of one man. to provide for another man's daughter; but, if he regards her as a. luxury, he ought., at .all events, to pay for his luxury, and not take credit for extreme I generosity.—Home paper.. j